The UN General Assembly
Special Session on Children


May 8-10, 2002, the UN General Assembly held the Special Session on Children to review progress since the 1990 World Summit on Children and to set a new agenda for Children.

The Special Session brought together more than 70 world leaders, numerous NGOs, and many children's advocates and children to:

• Review the progress made for children since the 1990 World Summit for Children and the World Declaration and Plan of Action, and

• Adopt a renewed commitment and a pledge for specific actions for the coming decade.

During the Special Session, governments from around the world made commitments to reduce hunger and disease; explored long-standing challenges of serving and protecting children, as well as emerging issues; identified strategic solutions to the problems facing children and committed human and economic resources to implement these solutions.

Prior to the event, three preparatory committee meetings were held to prepare for the Special Session and to draft a mission statement ("A World Fit For Children,", aka the Outcome Document.) The meetings took place May 2000, January 2001, and June 2001. More than 235 NGOs participated in the June session alone. Indeed, the preparatory meetings (aka Prep Comms) gave many NGOs the opportunity to lobby intensively for text within the Outcome document. This, in turn encouraged creation of exciting new NGO alliances and partnerships.

One of the most important caucuses is the Caucus on the Rights of the Child, an informal, but well-organized group of more than 100 NGOs from around the globe. This caucus was active throughout the preparatory meetings and presented a series of recommendations to the UN and governments. Other Caucuses included a Caucus on the Girl Child, Armed Conflict, Health, Education and HIV/AIDS. In addition, there were six regional caucuses: Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Another major initiative was launched in April 2001, when UNICEF and several major NGOs formed "The Global Movement for Children." This began as a call to the world's population to "Say Yes to Children." It was intended to launch a broad-based campaign to hold governments accountable, encourage advocates for children, engage young people, and expand public awareness, support and participation on the issues of the Special Session. During the campaign, over 90 million people said "Yes" to children!

Clearly, the caucuses, the Global Movement for Children, and the Session itself were all components of a larger strategy aimed at improving the survival, development, and protection of children. NGOs were uniquely placed to turn the rhetoric into reality. All in all, the Special Session on Children suceeded in accomplishing each of the goals the Prep Comm teams had intended.


For more information:

• Country Commitments to the Special Session
  Many of the participating countries and also participating NGOs made commitments at the the Special Session. Click above to learn more about the commitments that were made.

• Outcome Document
  The report of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole containing the final outcome document of the Special Session on Children is now available in 6 languages at:
  www.unicef.org/specialsession/documentation.

• Alternative NGO text (doc)
  Updated alternative NGO text of the Outcome Document, aka ("A World Fit for Children") was prepared by the Child Rights Caucus. April 2002.

Youth Participation at the Special Session:
The Under 18 Participation Task Force

Under-18 Participation Task Force of the NGO Steering Committee was a Coalition focused on facilitating the meaningful and substantive involvement of Under 18 year-olds in the 2002 UN General Assembly Special Session on Children. The Task Force was co-chaired by the International Save the Children Alliance and World Vision International. The only membership requirement was endorsement of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and a commitment to the above purpose statement.

Orientation for Children and Young People (under-18) not attending the Children's Forum
An orientation and briefing was offered for under-18 members of accredited NGO or government delegations who were NOT attending the Children's Forum on May 5-7th. The orientation provided important background information on the Special Session on Children, the Outcome Document, activities of the Children's Forum and the Global Movement for Children. The orientation was offered in French, English and Spanish. Additional languages required that children had to bring their own interpreters.

At the same time as the Under-18 orientation, chaperones of children and young people were asked to attend a one-hour special meeting on child protection issues for chaperones at the 2nd floor of the Church Center (44th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue, New York).